BlogHomeNewsAdvocacy, Regional Advocacy, StatementsJoint stakeholder letter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for the review of the period report of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the 61st Session

Joint stakeholder letter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for the review of the period report of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the 61st Session

Joint stakeholder letter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for the review of the period report of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the 61st Session, 1 – 14 November 2017

Si Jeunesse Savait is a feminist group formed in 2001 and based in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). SJS has 115 members and more than 2000 supporters around Congo. SJS builds the leadership skills of young women in sexual and reproductive rights, information and communication technologies and entrepreneurship.

The Coalition of African Lesbians is a feminist, activist and pan Africanist network of 14 organisations in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa committed to advancing freedom, justice and bodily autonomy for all women on the African continent and beyond. CAL has observer status to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

SJS and CAL welcomes the opportunity to make this short submission to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for consideration as part of the review of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s compliance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Banjul Charter) and the Protocol to the African Charter to the African Charter on the Rights of Women (the Maputo Protocol).

We commend the DRC on submitting its 11th, 12th and 13th Periodic Reports on the implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its Initial Report and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Periodic Reports on the implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women, bringing the DRC up to date with its reporting obligations to the African Commission.

We also note the positive developments that have been made by the DRC to conform to the Maputo Protocol by improving the Family Code and Gender Parity Law in 2015.

We are however concerned by the limited engagement with civil society in the drafting of this report. We urge the government of the DRC to commit to enabling greater participation of civil society groups, particularly those working with women who face multiple and intersectional forms of oppression and discrimination, during the preparation of the reports and also ensuring the implementation of the concluding observations that will result from this process.

We are however deeply concerned by the highly restrictive legal, cultural, social and economic conditions that surround sexual and reproductive rights and health of women which stand in direct opposition to DRC’s commitments and obligations with respect to international and regional treaties and norms.

In particular, we wish to draw the attention of this Commission to the laws that prohibit abortion on almost all grounds, placing harsh criminal penalties on women and girls who seek abortion, and for those performing abortions or advertising such services.

These laws and administrative barriers to abortion effectively force women to seek illegal and often unsafe abortions. A recent study conducted in Kinshasa found that three in five pregnancies were unplanned, and about two in five unplanned pregnancies are resolved through abortion. The vast majority of these were illegal abortions. The same study pointed to the need for greater access to modern contraception and SRHR services to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies1

The causal relationship between the restrictive legal framework and DRC’s high levels of maternal mortality and morbidity as well as other severe emotional, physical health consequences has been the subject of various international and regional treaty monitoring bodies recommendations to DRC2.

SJS and CAL respectfully submits the following questions to the Democratic Republic of Congo:

a. On sexual and reproductive health services: Will the State implement measures to ensure the removal of parental consent and administrative and legal barriers for girls and women in particular to access full and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services including: access to contraception, abortion services without any restrictions, and pre- and post-natal care.

b. How will the State address the alarming rate of maternal mortality and specifically reduce death from unsafe abortion? What steps will the State take to review the restrictive abortion law, which contributes to high rates of maternal death from unsafe abortion, in violation of women’s right to life?

c. Since abortion is criminalized and carries a penalty for women, we ask that the Commission questions the state on the law’s implementation and if there are women in prison for having illegal abortions. What are the measures the State is going to take for women who are already in prison for abortion related offenses to comply with the Maputo Protocol?